Heavy smog closes schools, airport in northeast China

By CNN Staff

Updated 1:54 AM ET, Tue October 22, 2013

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – A woman wearing a mask walks along a road as smog engulfs Harbin, China, on Tuesday, October 22. Expressways, schools and an airport were closed after smog disrupted one of northeast China's most heavily populated areas.

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – Harbin buildings are seen under heavy smog on October 22. Pollution levels there were far above international standards, the state-run China Daily reported.

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – Drivers try to make their way through the smog in downtown Harbin on October 22.

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – A policeman directs Harbin traffic on Monday, October 21. In some central areas of the city, visibility was less than 20 meters (65 feet).

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – A man pushes his bike onto a Harbin bridge on October 21. Government officials blamed the smog on a lack of wind and farmers burning crop stalk after their autumn harvest. Harbin's coal-burning heating system, which was recently started, is also a likely factor.

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – A woman walks in the Harbin smog October 21. "We can smell the smoke in the air," one man told CNN.

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Photos:Photos: Heavy smog covers Chinese cities

Heavy smog covers Chinese cities – A man runs along a foggy road in Changchun, China, on October 21.

Schoolchildren were home, planes were grounded and some highways were closed because of heavy smog in one of northeast China's most heavily populated areas Monday.

The smog was thick enough that visibility was less than 50 meters (164 feet) in downtown Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, and it prompted authorities to close Harbin's Taiping International Airport, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

All primary and middle schools in Harbin also were closed due to the smog, which began a day earlier, according to Xinhua.

Some public buses did not run in Harbin, so many people -- because they walked or sought other means of transportation -- were late to work, the news outlet reported.

Video from China's state-run CCTV showed some people -- obscured by smog even just steps away -- wearing masks over their mouths as they walked in the province. Some drivers who braved the roads flashed hazard lights.

The smog is forecast to continue into Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

"The pollution is indeed very bad, we can only see things within 100 meters, and yesterday it was 20-30 meters. We can smell the smoke in the air," one resident of Harbin, who identified himself as Mr. Ren, told CNN.

"The smog started about four days ago ... I heard all face masks in Harbin are sold out. People are very angry about this and there is a lot of discussion over the Internet.

"The main reason is Harbin started its heating and the main resource is coal. Every year at this time, the air quality is bad -- but this year is especially polluted."